𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘍𝘪𝘷𝘦: 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘈𝘣𝘰𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘙𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘏𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘳!
« 𝙼𝚊𝚐𝚗𝚞𝚜 »
First off, I am so sorry you had to deal with two chapters worth of my sister's horrible grammar skills. Well, you've got me back now, and I promise I know the difference between a comma and a semicolon.
The morning we left for the train station was hectic, but that wasn't surprising considering the large group we were traveling in. Mrs. Weasley had insisted Tilly, Kip, and I tag along with their lot. "It's just silly not to go together," she had insisted, "seeing as how we're all going to the same place." We took cars from the Ministry and arrived at King's Cross Station with twenty minutes to spare, which wasn't so bad, but with so many people the ride over was cramped and noisy. By the time we got to the post between platforms nine and ten, I was more than a little irritated.
Imagine being a lone Slytherin in a car full of Gryffindors. I mean, they're not the worst, but the Weasley Twins kept poking fun at their older brother Percy, which was starting to give me a headache. Plus, Ron and Hermione Granger kept arguing over their stupid pets (Granger had gotten the same cat that had attacked his rat, and he was still soar about it). Then, there was Ginny and Tilly who insisted on singing at the top of their lungs, "Gotta get back to Hogwarts! Gotta get back to scho-o-o-l, where everything is magic-o-o-l!"
Mrs. Weasley had to yell at everyone to shut it every two seconds, but all that did was create more noise and agitate the drivers. Loud, obnoxious, little ─
Sorry. Look, I'm not trying to complain. I don't mind the lot too bad, it was just that they were very exhausting en masse, especially when I had already woken up in a sour mood that day. I couldn't put my finger on it, but something felt off. But I couldn't think whether or not I was forgetting anything because, you know, all the noise.
"Mum, I think the ticket is broken," Kip said, looking down at his train ticket which read 'Platform Nine-and-three-quarters.'
"How can a ticket be broken?" Tammi frowned, taking the ticket from him.
"It's not broken," Fred (or maybe it was George, I can't really tell the two of them apart) said. "It's through the wall there." He pointed at the wall we were all standing in front of, grinning like a mad man.
Kip seemed to think that meant he wasn't trustworthy, because he stared at him, unblinking. Tammi looked more than a bit concerned as well. She looked from whichever Weasley Twin it was to the platform about three times. "The... wall...?"
"I don't believe you," Kip said.
"He's not lying," I sighed. "You just run into the wall and 'poof' you're there." Why did this kid have to be so stubborn all the time? Couldn't he just make anything easy?
"Run into the ── are you mad?" Kip shouted at me. The Weasley Twins laughed at this, because they thought everything was hilarious. I might have agreed with them on this one if not for my ever growing disdain for everything that morning.
"Yes. Now, move it." I shoved him into the wall; he yelped in surprise before disappearing on the other side. It wasn't the most subtle entrance to the magical world, but, like Stan had said, muggles don't really pay much attention to what's going on around them, do they?
The Weasley Twins sniggered and followed after him, leaving his mother with her mouth hanging open in surprise. "They really should have a brochure or something for these things..."
"Oh!" Matilda set her bag down, rummaging through it for a moment before coming up with a bent piece of paper. "Here, I forgot to give this to you. I made it last night."
Tammi took the paper and read out loud, "'First Year at Hogwarts: All you need to know to get by.' Awe, thanks, Mati." She smiled and put the pamphlet in her pocket. Then, she frowned at the wall. "I can get through, can't I? I want to see Kip off."
"Of course you can," Mrs. Weasley nodded. "Hermione's parents went with us just last year. Come on, dear, I'll go with you." She linked their arms and together they slipped through the wall. I think she must have been excited to have another mother around to talk to.
The rest of us passed through the platform. As I went through, something odd happened. It was like I was passing through a block of solid ice; instead of the warm, sunny weather left over from the summer, it was now freezing, like winter had come a bit earlier. I pulled my jacket around myself a little tighter, but it didn't help much. The odd thing was, no one else seemed to notice the change in temperature; there was even a girl in the crowd who was wearing shorts. Well, maybe I was just getting sick or something...
People swarmed the platform. Students were making their way to the big, red, steam engine: The Hogwarts Express. Parents were waving goodbye and shouting reminders at their children to behave themselves. More noise and bigger headaches...
I was knocked sideways when Kip ran up beside me and hit me as hard as he could. "I'm going to kill you in your sleep," he threatened.
"Thanks for the warning," I rolled my eyes.
Tammi made her way over to us, leaving Mrs. Weasley to see her own children, and Harry and Hermione, off. "Does everyone take the train?" She was looking up at the Hogwarts Express with wonder in her eyes. "I mean, what about all the kids who are already in Scotland? Surely, they don't come all the way here just for a twelve hour train ride back to Scotland..?"
"They can take other methods of travel," Matilda explained. "Like, last year, these two idiots stole a car ─" She coughed and tilted her head in the direction of Ron and Harry across the platform. "─ but mostly everyone takes the train. Bonding experiences and stuff. It's all in the pamphlet. Ooh! There's Azalea!"
"Azalea?" Tammi asked with a knowing smirk. "Who's Azalea?"
I sighed, feeling much more annoyed about it than normal. "Tilly fancies her. But she won't say anything to her."
"Well, yeah. You never tell a girl you like her, it makes you look like an idiot." She was too busy frantically trying to fix up her hair to deny her feelings, which wasn't nearly as fun.
"I thought it was just because you fancy a new girl every other week," I said.
"Yes, well, last year we were twelve. I was still figuring out my type, then. This year, we're thirteen. That means it's time for an epic romance!"
"Probably not if you don't say anything to her."
"The idea is to get her to talk to me. So that she asks me out. See?"
"No. That sounds stupid."
Tilly ignored me and combed her fingers through her tangles a few times before looking at me hopefully, "How's my hair look?"
"Like crap," I told her. I know, I know, it was rude, but I was moody and freezing despite it still being twenty-five degrees out.
Matilda flipped me off, then looked around trying to catch Azalea's eye. Tammi shook her head at us. "Well, you'd better get on the train. I don't reckon I'll be able to drive you there if you miss it."
"Right." My stomach dropped. I couldn't quite explain it. There was this feeling... like something bad was going to happen if we got on the train. I don't know, maybe I was just nervous. Tilly keeps telling me I have anxiety, but I wasn't sure if that's what this was. I mean, it had never happened before. At least, not while we were boarding the train. I'm always fine until classes started.
But then again, I suppose there were a few dozen extra people added to the mix, where it was normally just Tammi dropping Tilly and me off at the front or Bleus walking us to the platform. Plus, there was the news that come next summer I'd likely never see my sister again except for at school, where we didn't really even see each other a whole lot anyway, because we were in different houses. And then there was Kip who was starting first year, who would have a whole bunch of questions I couldn't answer; and what if he got into Slytherin? Could muggle-borns even be put into Slytherin? I knew it was mostly full of prejudiced twats, those "pure" blood types I'd mentioned earlier. If there was ever a muggle-born student in Slytherin, I reckoned they'd bully him to death.
Alright. So, maybe I was a bit nervous about a few things...
"Come on, Kip..." I waved for him to follow us, but at the last second Arthur Weasley was waving us over to where he and Harry were. "Oh. Well, wait for us then." Kip shrugged and got on the train. Tilly and I exchanged a look. What could this be about? It wasn't like we were the ultimate besties with the Weasleys or anything. Why would he want to talk to us?
"There's something I've got to tell the lot of you before you leave ─" He was looking very tense, which did not help my nerves.
"Oh, man, if it's bad news I don't wanna hear it," I whined. I'd probably exploded if I had anything else to worry about. Mr. Weasley looked a bit guilty; so I suppose it must have been awful. Great, just great.
"It's alright, Mr. Weasley," Harry said. "I already know."
Mr. Weasley looked at him in surprise. "You know? How could you?"
Now it was Harry's turn to look guilty. "I ─ er ─ heard you and Mrs. Weasley talking last night. I couldn't help hearing. Sorry ─"
"Not the way I would have chosen for you to find out," Mr. Weasley frowned.
"Find what out?" Tilly asked. She looked impatient, but I thought she just wanted to catch up to her crush.
"Sirius Black is targeting us, apparently."
Oh. Was that it?
Harry shrugged like it was nothing. I suppose for him it was just another Tuesday. After all, people (namely just the dead terrorist leader) wanted to kill him all the time. "Black can't be any worse than Voldemort, can he?" That was his logic.
"Wait. Why us? I understand you," I pointed at Harry. "Because you're famous, but Tilly and I aren't that important to anyone." We were just a bunch of street kids. Orphans. Thieves. No one cared about us. Why would Big Bad Death Eater Sirius Black want us dead?
"Well, clearly, we're important to Sirius Black," Tilly shrugged, looking utterly unbothered by the news. She might have been pretending to prove what a true Gryffindor she was (her house honored bravery above everything else), but I wasn't sure. We met dangerous people all the time, both magical and muggle, in London. Black couldn't be that different. I mean, it wasn't like he was The Spectre.
"But why?" I wasn't all that worried he'd find us or anything. I mean, we'd be at school. How was he supposed to get on school grounds, a secret passage or something? I just didn't understand the motive, and with my nerves already shot it was more annoying than anything to have all this dumped on me right before the train left. At least it explained why the Ministry was suddenly so interested in the horrible living conditions my sister and I endured over the summer.
"Maybe he seen a picture of us somewhere and thought 'yeah, those two look alright.'"
Ignoring my nerves for a second, I actually managed to laugh at my sister's joke. "Well, we are pretty hot." I expected Mr. Weasley to scold us for laughing it off, but he just made us promise not 'to go looking for Black,' whatever he meant by that. Again, we'd be in school. How would we manage to go looking for anyone? But of course we all promised anyway and were promptly ushered onto the train.
"What took so long?" Kip demanded, looking annoyed when Tilly and I found him. We ditched our luggage somewhere in one of the empty carriages. They'd be magically brought to our dorms, but I made sure to put a jinx on the locks just in case anyone like me tried to steal anything. Tilly went off with her friends after a short while, but Kip stayed with me seeing as how he didn't know anyone else yet.
I was having trouble staying stationary, so I decided to move about the train. Not that it helped much. The longer we were on the train, the more fidgety I got. It really was a good thing Kip was with me, because at least I knew he wasn't starting fights or anything (I'd taught him how to run his mouth a little too well). By mid afternoon, it had started to rain. I was sure I was about to freeze to death, and the nagging I had been feeling all morning was getting unbearable.
Something was wrong. I didn't know what, but there was something that wasn't right. Maybe I'd forgotten something, but I'd already circled back around to our trunks and checked them seven different times. Everything was there. We hadn't forgotten anyone. Kip and I had passed each of the Weasleys, Harry, Hermione, and Tilly at least twice. As far as I could tell, everything was fine.
"What's wrong with you?"
I jumped, and Kip snorted. I hadn't been expecting anyone to say anything. At first, I didn't see anyone around, but then Kip pointed at the dark haired girl standing in the corner. "Nina," I sighed. "Why do you do that?"
A few words on Nina Snape before you meet her properly: she was in the same year and house I was, and her father was our Head. Most people avoided her because of this fact. Her dad had something of a bad reputation, which, of course meant that she had one too. Everyone thought she was creepy because she moved real quietly and never said anything or smiled or laughed (she actually did a lot, but never in a crowd). They said she was psychotic because she'd had at least nine accidents that caught something on fire in the past, six of which happened before we even started school.
Not that she cared much about that. In fact, I'd go so far as to say she was unaware of what people thought of her, which was a testament to how oblivious she could be sometimes. Minded her own business, read classic muggle literature like Merry Shelly and Robert Louis Stevenson.
She was weird in the sense that she adored bloody and gruesome things like serial killers and horror films (her favourite characters of all time were Jack Skelington and Wednesday Addams). Her favourite colour was black, and she had been talking about getting a nose ring all summer (she'd sent me letters via owls, as per wizard costumes). It's just a matter of convincing my father to let me get one, she'd written.
Maybe it was just that I was used to seeing freaky people in the city, but I wasn't bothered much by her antics. I thought she was alright... and kind of pretty...
Anyway...
Nina stepped into the light, a slight frown on her face and genuine confusion in her eyes. "Do what?"
"You know..." I rolled my hand, but the message still hadn't clicked. "Sneak up on people."
Her head tilted to the side, which reminded me all too much of a lost animal. "Wasn't trying to sneak up on you. I was just wondering what's the matter with you..."
"I don't know!" I winced. My voice had come out louder than I'd meant it to. "I'm freakin' out!"
"Why?" she asked.
"I don't know!"
"Hm." She eyed Kip who was looking around awkwardly. "Who's that?" I thought she was just trying to distract me from my nerves. Her kindness was always covert that way.
"That's just Kip," I told her. Kip did a two fingered salute. Why was my mouth so dry?
"Hullo," Nina waved, then turned back to me. "It's NINE-UH, by the way, not NEEN-UH. Long I, not short I. We've been going to school together for three years now, I think you ought to know this by now." I did know, I just kept doing it because it aggrivated her so much. "And no you don't get a free pass because you're freaking out." She huffed like that would be the end of the matter.
"Yeah, okay," I said shortly, because I didn't feel up to our usual banter. "Is it cold in here to you?" I wrapped my hands in my sleeves, trying to warm them. It didn't work.
"Not really, no ── oh, well, now it is. Look." Nina pointed at the window, and I nearly fainted. Despite it being warm, summer weather when we left King's Cross, the windows were frozen over now. The first snow shouldn't have been for another month at least.
I grabbed Kip's arm. Every instinct I had was telling me to bolt, except my feet seemed to have frozen to the floor too. "I don't like this..."
"Well, I'm optimistic. It could be Santa," Kip said.
Nina sniggered. She entered the nearest compartment to get a better view through the icy window. The people who were already in there got up and ran out the second she slid the door open. Nina either didn't notice them or didn't care. She wiped the frost from the glass. "Oh, we're stopping."
"Are we there?" Kip asked.
"Shouldn't be." Nina peered through the window. Meanwhile, I was panicking worse than ever now, try as I might to hide it. I couldn't shake the feeling we'd trapped ourselves in here. "Oh, I see now! Dementors!"
That news did nothing to calm me down. The temperature seemed to drop tenfold just at the utterance of their name. At least I had an answer for what had been bothering me now...
I twisted my sleeve in my jacket. Tilly. I needed to find Tilly.
"What's a dementor..?" Something must have been showing on my face, because Kip's voice came out smaller than normal.
"Soul sucking demon things." To my horror Nina was grinning. As if these things were the coolest creatures to her. I suppose it fit her aesthetic. But still. Time and place! "They guard the Azkaban Prison and make people feel super depressed. I'll bet they'll be looking for Sirius Black."
"Magnus..." Kip scooted closer to me. I wasn't sure what was scaring him more: the dementors or the idea that a deadly killer might be loose on the train somewhere.
"Why would Sirius Black be on the train?" I asked weakly. How could he be? He couldn't bypass a whole crowd of people at the station... could he? I really needed to find Tilly.
"Looking for you and Potter probably." Nina was still looking through the window. How could she be so calm during all this? "People reckon he wants to finish the job. Ooh! Look, they're coming on board!"
Finish the job? What was that supposed to mean?
There was no time to worry about it. The lights went out. Kip yelped and held on to my arm. He was afraid of the dark. I tried to keep calm for his sake, but my mind was still preoccupied. Tilly was out there somewhere with these things roaming about. I needed to find her, make sure she was alright. Was she smart enough not to antagonize them? I wasn't so sure she was. She once tackled a racoon because it stole her sandwich. My sister wasn't exactly a genius when it came to tactics.
At least, in the dark Kip couldn't see how panicked I actually was.
The compartment door's glass was freezing over, too, now. Ice crept along the frame, crackling as it formed. "They're coming!" Nina shrieked. Only she didn't sound scared. She sounded excited. I wish I could have shared her sentiments.
"How are you not freaked out?" Kip demanded in a shaky voice. I could feel his whole body trembling next to me. I imagine this was a bit much for a first year. Hell, it was too much for me and I was in third year. "How are they doing that? Why is it so ─" He cut himself off with another yelp of terror.
A group of them passed our compartment. Our door was still open. We caught a good glimpse of them. I crossed my fingers, hoping they wouldn't notice us.
Fortunately, they glided right by in a swift, sweeping motion, but that did not calm me down. They swooped by a dozen more times. Black cloak hovering just above the ground. A silver mist trailed behind the damned things. Ragged breathing, like someone on life support. Dying. Death. Despair.
What happened next was hard to explain. One second, I was in the compartment with Nina bouncing on her heels in excitement ("Look, look, look, they're right there!") and Kip digging his fingernails into my arm, the next... I don't know. I was hallucinating or something.
Hogwarts was burning to the ground. Students and teachers alike stood together at what remained of the entrance, covered in soot and dirt. It looked as if everyone had been through hell and back. Grim faced and bruised up. There wasn't a single person without a wand in their hand.
It was easy to see why. Across the grounds, an army of black cloaked figures were marching their way to Hogwarts. Some of them were cackling. A few were jumping up and down. One of them was adding flames to the fire already burning in every direction. They were being led by a distorted figure. A monster of some kind, I was sure. Gray, shallow skin, a non-existent nose. And his eyes... big red, slits like a snake. I knew who he was even though I had never seen him in person before. Voldemort.
He pranced around the grounds, sneering at the students and staff. "Harry Potter," he said loud enough for his voice to echo off the dismembered walls, "is dead!"